Post chemo. now on maintenance for Mantle cell NHL.

Quite a bit livelier after chemo but wondering what problems maintenance will bring.

I finished chemo (VR CAP) for mantle cell NHL in mid Feb. My last cycle (6th) was three weeks late due to a bout of pneumonia halfway through the 18 week treatment. This threw me in more ways than one as the pneumonia wasn't fully cleared by the hospital. They sent me home after 2 weeks of intravenous antibiotics with oral antibiotics for the next week. I found out a few weeks later that I still had an infection level that was too high and my local GP was considering sending me back to hospital but settled on another week of oral antibiotics as I was neutropenic and hospital wasn't considered a safe environment. This made the latter half of my chemo a bit tough. The fatigue wasn't helping and I slept 15 hours out of 24 for several days. I finished the chemo eventually and have now started on maintenance Rituximab ( 1 injection each 2 months for the next 2 years) which, so far, has been ok after two injections but I don't take that for granted as I breezed through my first two cycles of chemo easily but just look what happened after the third. I am hoping that the maintenance works succesfully and that there are not too many side effects. I would welcome any info. on patients' experience of Rituximab maintenance.

I do feel a lot better after the chemo and have to praise the day ward staff who have been marvellous in their care, support and advice. I am really lucky that I have such a fantastic local team. I don't know how they do it day in and day out staying so positive, caring and supportive. They really are very special people who have helped me enormously throughout and continue to do so.

Sorry that this is so boring but I thought I'd better log the details thus far. I promise my next effort will be a lot more informative or entertaining. Something I learned from my reading ( which I have done a lot of since diagnosis) is that Velcade (Bortezomib), which is the V in VR CAP, can be stopped from being effective by green tea (something to do with the polyphenols). This is something people often drink as an antioxidant. I was a green tea drinker although not very often but I stopped immediately when I discovered this and informed my day ward staff who hadn't heard of it so I do come in handy now and again.

That's all for now good people, wishing you all the luck in the world.

Comments

What a huge amount you've had to go through, Bill – I’m so glad to hear that you’re feeling better and that you had such a wonderfully supportive local team throughout your chemotherapy. Very best wishes to you going forward with your maintenance treatment. If there’s ever anything we can do to support you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on the support line. Take care, Alice

Hi Bill, thanks for your blog that certainly was not boring! You appear to have been on a rollercoaster which perhaps continues on your maintenance scheme. Yes, my nursing team are also marvelous, the unsung heroes that even also raise money for Bloodwise in their spare time. Take care of yourself and keep blogging.